Editor's Note: This is the first in a series in which we've welcomed users to share their own experiences with ImpulseSave. If you'd like to share your story, send an email to deborah[at]impulsesave[dot]com!
By Serendipity of Serendipity's Guide to Saving
When I first heard of Impulse Save, something in me sparked. For the longest time, I was an in-denial impulse spender who had recently come to terms with it and was working hard to rectify years of damage on my finances. While I had already been working on it for a while, and my finances were in better shape, I still wondered how I was going to accomplish savings goals I had set for myself this year, such as travel. For years I had sworn to myself I was going to save money to do it and now that I would likely be able to put money aside to, I still didn’t know how. As I was playing around with savings accounts, I saw Impulse Save as a great option to make my dreams a reality.
After the initial set up of proving who I was via webcam with my driver’s license, and linking my bank account, I was able to set up a small amount to transfer weekly to my savings account. I decided upon $10 a week, which seemed like a small amount I wouldn’t miss too much. That ends up being $40 a month or $480 a year put aside I wouldn’t miss otherwise.
Then I sent the wheels into motion for my action plan to “impulse save.” Any spending I didn’t do but wanted to would be going to be sent into this travel account. Also, any random money I received such as blog revenue and reimbursements for health and work expenses. This sounded great in theory but would I set the wheels in motion? $60 mileage check? Bam, into my travel fund! What, dental reimbursement? Bam, into my travel fund, all with the touch of a mouse. I was so excited and my savings became quicker and more frequent. Just like impulse spending gave me a high, impulse saving did too! And it was making me become wiser with my funds. Did I mention that I was also watching my travel fund grow?
Recently, I had to take break from saving so I could help balance some changes in my life. Just as things were settling, I received a phone call from one of my oldest friends, letting me know she had thyroid cancer. As much as my heart sank, I had only one thought, and that was to visit her as soon as I could. And, I didn’t even hesitate to pull from my travel fund. After all, what’s a travel fund for if you can’t travel with it?
I can easily say if I didn’t have an Impulse Save account, I wouldn’t have reached my goal. Not only did it provide a place to stash my cash, it allowed me to have a community to support me every time I saved instead of spent. It also allowed a fun, new and fresh way to save which kept my interest long enough to complete a job well done. Thanks Impulse Save!
